1. Technical Field
This disclosure is related to fluid jet cutting systems and devices, and, in particular, to compact fluid jet receiving receptacles which are positionable to catch a fluid jet discharged from a cutting head of a fluid jet cutting system during workpiece processing operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fluid jet or abrasive-fluid jet cutting systems are used for cutting a wide variety of materials, including stone, glass, ceramics and metals. In a typical fluid jet cutting system, a high-pressure fluid (e.g., water) flows through a cutting head having a cutting nozzle that directs a cutting jet onto a workpiece. The system may draw or feed an abrasive into the high-pressure fluid jet to form an abrasive-fluid jet. The cutting nozzle may then be controllably moved across the workpiece to cut the workpiece as desired. After the fluid jet, or abrasive-fluid jet, generically referred to hereinafter as a “waterjet,” passes through the workpiece, the energy of the waterjet is often dissipated by a relatively large volume of water in a catcher tank that is also configured to support the workpiece. Systems for generating high-pressure waterjets are currently available, such as, for example, the Mach 4™ five-axis waterjet system manufactured by Flow International Corporation, the assignee of the present application. Other examples of waterjet cutting systems are shown and described in Flow's U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,058, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Examples of catcher tank systems for supporting workpieces and dissipating energy of a waterjet after it passes through a workpiece are shown and described in Flow's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/193,435, filed Jul. 28, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Although many waterjet cutting systems feature a catcher tank arrangement having a large volume of water contained therein to dissipate energy of the waterjet during use, other known systems utilize compact fluid jet receiving receptacles which are positioned opposite a cutting head and moved in unison with the same to catch the jet after it is discharged from the cutting head and acts on a workpiece. Examples of such receptacles (also referred to as “catcher cups”) and other related devices are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,435,902; 4,532,949; 4,651,476; 4,665,949; 4,669,229; 4,698,939; 4,799,415; 4,920,841; and 4,937,985. Known fluid jet receiving receptacles, however, can suffer from several drawbacks. For example, many fluid jet receiving receptacles are overly complex, bulky and/or prone to premature wear. In addition, many known fluid jet receiving receptacles are configured such that upon wear, fluid and abrasives from the jet may rebound from the receptacle and cause surface defects in the workpiece, excessive noise and/or other hazardous or unwanted conditions.